Sag Harbor Home Where John Steinbeck Wrote Final Novel Lists for $18 Million

Though John Steinbeck is best known for his Pulitzer and Nobel Prize–winning descriptions of life in central California, he held a special place in his heart for the “little fishing place” in New York that offered up plenty of writing inspiration in his final years. That waterfront home in the Hamptons was recently listed for $17.9 million, setting up its first sale since Steinbeck moved in more than 65 years ago.

The Sag Harbor home sits on a 1.8-acre property boasting more than 580 feet of private waterfront and a 60-foot pier, with western-facing views of Morris Cove and Upper Sag Harbor Cove. According to The New York Times, after years of posthumous ownership disputes, the home is being sold through a trust established by the late Elaine Steinbeck, the author’s third wife.

The main cottage features two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus a high-ceilinged living room adorned with bookcase-lined walls and a fieldstone fireplace underneath a portrait of Steinbeck’s poodle Charley. The Steinbecks also added a “Library Loft” overlooking the living room that holds three walls of bookshelves and served as a playroom for their children.

Elsewhere on the property are a guest cottage complete with full bathroom, outdoor shower, and waterfront views, and a small hexagon-shaped structure surrounded by large windows that Steinbeck used as a writing space. 

Steinbeck purchased the home in 1955 and spent much of his time there until his death in 1968. The cottage was reportedly the starting point for the cross-country road trip the author documented in his 1962 book Travels With Charley: In Search of America, and is also where he wrote his final novel, 1961’s The Winter of Our Discontent, which was set in a fictional Long Island town seemingly inspired by Steinbeck’s new coastal surroundings.